Does this growth rate look ok?

[herbie the love bud]

Thanks for looking. The pic on the left was from 9 days earlier of the back plant in the pic on the right.

Does it look right? Wheres is that crazy growth I heard about?

[Opie Yutts]

Maybe a little slow, but be patient. It's not how they look in the first few weeks, it's how they look at harvest. They always seem a little slow at first, then boom. Off they go. How far away is your light? What kind of light is it? Do you have plenty of aeration in the reservoir? Are they from seeds or clones? If clones, did they have a big or small root mass? Clones usually start a little faster and bigger than from seed.

[macro]

Depending on the strain I think it looks good, aside from some droopiness, but it could just be their bed time.


DISCLAIMER::: NOOB ADVICE- DISREGARD BELOW -
What kind of light are you using? You may want to think about cranking up the intensity by dropping it a few inches above your plants, they look solid enough to be able to take it. looks like they're just begging to grow

also If you don't already do this: cover that big gaping hole in your top, light will get in your res and mess everything up. Also you may want to put some duct tape or something to block the light from your air-tube holes. you may even want to consider drilling those holes on the side instead. If algae starts growing your plants growth will stunt.

[the image reaper]

the plant in the first pic looks curled, probably from heat ... it seems better in the second pic, but droopy ... as said, you need to close that hole up, light will cause algae, and kill roots ... I know next to nothing about hydro, but I wonder if you have your cycle on too often, the plants look like soil-grown plants that have been over-watered ... good luck ... :smokin:

[herbie the love bud]

How far away is your light? What kind of light is it? Do you have plenty of aeration in the reservoir? Are they from seeds or clones? If clones, did they have a big or small root mass? Clones usually start a little faster and bigger than from seed.

The light is about 20" or so above 400 Watt MH. The Aeration I think is fairly good actually. They are from seeds.

[herbie the love bud]

Depending on the strain I think it looks good, aside from some droopiness, but it could just be their bed time.


DISCLAIMER::: NOOB ADVICE- DISREGARD BELOW -
What kind of light are you using? You may want to think about cranking up the intensity by dropping it a few inches above your plants, they look solid enough to be able to take it. looks like they're just begging to grow

also If you don't already do this: cover that big gaping hole in your top, light will get in your res and mess everything up. Also you may want to put some duct tape or something to block the light from your air-tube holes. you may even want to consider drilling those holes on the side instead. If algae starts growing your plants growth will stunt.

Yeah that hole is covered I had it open to check PPM and PH at the moment. No algae problems at the moment.

[herbie the love bud]

the plant in the first pic looks curled, probably from heat ... it seems better in the second pic, but droopy ... as said, you need to close that hole up, light will cause algae, and kill roots ... I know next to nothing about hydro, but I wonder if you have your cycle on too often, the plants look like soil-grown plants that have been over-watered ... good luck ... :smokin:

Yeah the heat I took care of, that was a problem last week when I was out of town for a day and a half. Cycle? Actually it's DWC so there is no cycle, the roots are just always in the water with the air stones.

[Opie Yutts]

Don't know what to tell you then. Looks like you're doing things correctly. If you want faster growth, you could turn up the heat. You could probably go as high as 85 or so without any problems. Just remember that warmer temps mean a greater possibility of mold or rot. Just watch it carefully. Keep PH at 5.5 or so. Have the light as close as possible. You could get it real close, like a couple inches, if you set a small fan on the res. lid and have it blow straight up at the light, or use a cool tube, or both.

[SCIENTIXT]

Wheres is that crazy growth I heard about?

Roots need their darkness in order to grow the way they were designed. In the pic you can see how I cover my res. If you want faster growth, cover up as much of the res as possible so that no light gets to the root zone. Also light + warm temps in the res is prime for mold and rot. Your plants will still grow even with light in the res but don't expect it to give you colas come flowering time. You got the right color res but the light that leaks through your net pots is enough to slow growth.

[Opie Yutts]

SCIENTIXT, I don't see any light leaks in his res.

herbie, does the solution in the res touch the net pots? There should be some (2 or more inches) of roots dangling in air. Any bubbles popping will give that part of the roots plenty of moisture. In general, get as much air too the roots as possible. This is what the image reaper was saying: the plants look like soil-grown plants that have been over-watered

[danlboy]

im on my 2nd DWC crop roots always in the water and did fine

[herbie the love bud]

Yeah the water level is about a half inch below the net pots. I think the concentration of nutes might have been a little high. I read an overgrow FAQ that said to check the TDS daily, if the TDS is going UP then the plant is drinking more water and the concentration of nutes is too high. If the TDS is going down, then the plant is drinking up the nutes and the base nute TDS can be raised.

So I think the plant may have been a little stunted due to high nutes and that would probably answer the yellowing too.

What does everyone think? Thanks.

[Opie Yutts]

im on my 2nd DWC crop roots always in the water and did fine

There's got to be some point where the water stopped going up the plant. Surly the water did not completely cover all the roots? Or is this what you are saying?

[Opie Yutts]

Yeah the water level is about a half inch below the net pots. I think the concentration of nutes might have been a little high. I read an overgrow FAQ that said to check the TDS daily, if the TDS is going UP then the plant is drinking more water and the concentration of nutes is too high. If the TDS is going down, then the plant is drinking up the nutes and the base nute TDS can be raised.

So I think the plant may have been a little stunted due to high nutes and that would probably answer the yellowing too.

What does everyone think? Thanks.

I think you could be absolutely correct. I don't know why I didn't mention this as a possibility earlier, since it is a common mistake to over fertilize youngsters. They should have no nutes for the first two weeks, then weekly you can increase to 1/4, 1/2, then full. Of course this is just kind of a basic guideline. Adjust as needed. If your plants look like they are struggling a little, increasing nutrients might make it worse. Certainly if they are getting stressed from too much nutrients, they will not grow as fast as is optimal.

[SCIENTIXT]

SCIENTIXT, I don't see any light leaks in his res.

Then obviously you didn't blow up the pic and look close enough. If you blow up the second pic showing the three plants, you can see where light is getting in very clearly. You just have to know where to look.

The netting on the net pots in the pic goes all the way up to the lip of the pot. The grow rocks are not settled against the sides of the net pot which is letting light in. You can see it on the closest plant.

Check it out.:thumbsup:

[Opie Yutts]

Oh I think I see what you are talking about. The net pots don't seat perfectly on the lid. Is that what you are seeing? I guess it would be nearly impossible for them to seat all the way due to those ridges on the lid. Although it is of course best to have no light leaks, I don't think that little bit would cause harm. I did a grow a few months ago and was putting round pots into square holes in a DWC. There were dime size (roughly) holes one each of the four corners of each pot. The plants came out fine.

herbie, if you did want to fix it, you could sand out the hole just a touch more, and the pot would fit down a little better. You could also get some artists putty or something similar to put around there, or just some white cardboard. I don't see it really being a problem, but it would be better if you covered it. If not for the leaks, at least for the white reflection bouncing light back at the plants.

[herbie the love bud]

Then obviously you didn't blow up the pic and look close enough. If you blow up the second pic showing the three plants, you can see where light is getting in very clearly. You just have to know where to look.

The netting on the net pots in the pic goes all the way up to the lip of the pot. The grow rocks are not settled against the sides of the net pot which is letting light in. You can see it on the closest plant.

Check it out.:thumbsup:


Eyes like a hawk! Yes it's true that those net pots have holes all the way to the top and that it is very hard to seal them with hydroton. I've switched my future seedlings to a new net pot whose holes are not to the top and even fit a bit better.

But in truth, neither is the problem, I have white mylar covers over the net pots, the ones that NGW sells. Hard to take a picture that way so I removed them for the photo.

I can't remember if I already mentioned this, but meter the TDS daily, those ppm is rising, so I think it is on nutrient overload. I did my weekly water switch today and I have dropped the base nute level down.

Thanks everyone! We'll see what happens in a few days.

[Opie Yutts]

I have a feeling that will do the trick, if you lowered it enough. Crossing fingers.

My feelings are obviously from the G-13's extra sense kicking in. Just a minute, I'm seeing the future again...